Mess with the bull? Get the horns. (Mess with the butterball? Get the closet.)

It seems like only yesterday that we heard Republican legislators moaning about the Morgan-Black regime in the NC House banishing critics into repurposed out-of-the-way broom closets. Now that the partisan tables have turned, that kind of behavior is now *cute* and – ha ha – *funny.*

Terrence Everitt and I are hardly ever – if ever – on the same page regarding the important issues of the day.  He is a partisan leftist.  He’s doing what his home folks asked him to do. He’s apparently not saying one thing on the campaign trail and doing another after the swearing-in.  Like soooooooo many others in state politics have little problem with doing.

Word came out this week that representative Everitt was subjected to a surprise office move. His new home-away-from-home will apparently be a repurposed supply closet in the legislative building.  Speaker Timmy, of course, alerted the press and issued a *cute* letter suggesting the move was related to a recent altercation Everitt reportedly had with a Democrat senator:

Everitt got a letter from Speaker of the House Tim Moore telling him the move was for his own good after he and a state senator had an altercation earlier this week that was chronicled on social media during what is likely the closing week of a tense legislative session.

“Please know that I believe all members should be able to express themselves without the need to hide in a staffer’s office regardless of how timid they are to avoid direct confrontation,” Moore said in the letter, noting that Everitt’s new office is “somewhat removed, has multiple points of ingress and egress and is close to the General Assembly Police office.”

The office is also close to the legislative building’s press offices, which were moved to the General Assembly basement in 2019. When Everitt arrived at his new office late Thursday, he brought cupcakes for the press room and the custodial staff.

In his letter, Moore told Everitt that a state legislator has never occupied this office, so he would “get the honor of adding a chapter in the rich history of these hallowed halls.”

Earlier this legislative session Moore’s affair with a state employee became public knowledge because her estranged husband filed a lawsuit over it. That lawsuit was settled in early July. The terms weren’t made public. Everitt wrote Wake County District Lorrin Freeman in August asking her to investigate, partly because Moore’s girlfriend got a 50% salary increase over the courst of the three year affair.

Freeman, who had already said she didn’t see a basis for a criminal investigation, reiterated that after she got Everitt’s letter.

Everitt on Thursday said the move was an act of retaliation by Moore, R-Cleveland. “I thought he was smart enough not to do it immediately,” Everitt said. “And he waited about a month.”

Asked to explain the move, Moore’s office forwarded WRAL News a copy of the letter the speaker sent Everitt.

The argument that Everitt had earlier this week was with Sen. Paul Lowe, who got angry with another colleague four years ago and then threw a reporter’s phone across the room, was just cover for revenge, Everitt said.

“Lowe and I are fine, and people have disagreements in that building all the time,” Everitt said. “This is obviously an excuse, and it’s a little ham-handed, too.”

House Democratic Leader Robert Reives was copied on that letter and responded with his own letter, saying he’d assumed Moore was joking about the move. “It is obviously disrespectful,” Reives wrote.

It’s also logistically difficult: Everitt’s office was moved, but his legislative assistant’s office wasn’t, so they’re on different floors.

“I knew at the beginning that there would be consequences,” Everitt said. “I’m disappointed that, after all these years, [Moore] thinks I care where my office is. … I’m sorry he is so incredibly thin-skinned.”

You all may remember the Lassiter affair.  Timmy was named in divorce proceedings of a Raleigh-area couple.  The husband claimed Timmy had been dating his wife for over three years while holding job security over her head.  Timmy made public comments suggesting the husband was crazy.  Timmy’s story changed to it all being an on-again-off-again relationship with a separated woman.  Following the settlement of the claim, news leaked out that Mrs. Lassiter had indeed been married – and NOT separated – while involved with Timmy.

The whole story reeks with potential civil, criminal, or even ethical elements.  It almost demands a serious probe.  Yet, the Wake DA – the daughter of a powerful long-time Democrat boss – took a hard pass.  And why not?  Timmy and his weathervane-like moral compass have been quite helpful to her side of the fence.

Once again, we’re reminded of what a petty little person the little guy from Kings Mountain is.  He clearly has no shame.  Most people, with any sense of decency, would have resigned and disappeared back into private life following the whole Lassiter mess.  Yet, Timmy hires lawyers, goes on offense, and tries to drag a young couple through the mud.  Even better, the tubby little guy is eyeing a run for Congress while running out the clock on this legislative term.

Given the appalling state of our national government, a specimen like little Tim should fit in quite well.

Hopefully, legislative Republicans can do a bit better with their next choices for leaders. Though, given  the field of prospectives we’ve seen thus far, I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath.